Ever since his turn-of-the-century heyday, Frank Lloyd Wright has been an ongoing source of architectural discourse (not to mention the inspiration for beach reads), and continues to inspire interior design, landscaping, and education around the world. During his lifetime, Wright completed approximately 532 houses, museums, and office buildings, over 400 of which are still standing. And while many a parent would love to stick their nose in a coffee table book about his designs, the younger set might prefer to run through Wright’s characteristically “open” floor plans and gardens first-hand.
Thankfully, this latter scenario is possible at Ohio’s Westcott House, a two-story Prairie-style house and estate in Springfield. Monday marks the beginning of “Design Detectives,” a summer camp hosted directly on the Westcott premises, hosted in association with the Springfield Preservation Alliance. The camp—geared towards kids aged 7-13—includes hands-on crafts, drawing (or should we say drafting?), and exploring the two-story house, garden, pool, and surrounding historic town of Springfield. It’s only fitting, too, that a kids’ summer camp exists in honor of Wright, whose love of land and harmony with nature is said to have been fostered during his own boyhood summers, spent on his uncle’s Wisconsin farm.